Method and apparatus for continuously producing a continuous length of insulated wire



Feb. 18, 1969 J, 5N. FIGG 3,428,504

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OFINSULATED WIRE Filed May 11. 1965 Sheet of 11 Sheet 3 of 11 Feb. 18,1969 N. FIGG 7 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING ACONTINUOUS LENGTH OF INSULATED WIRE Filed May 11 1965 mam me ubH/V 4!F/sa @QZMMQZL J. E. N. FIGG 3,428,504 METHOD AND APPARATUS FORCONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING Feb. 18, 1969' 4 of i1 A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OFINSULATED WIRE Filed May 11, 1965 Sheet kllll NNQ mm mu Q mum 5 g Q 5W gP l'lllll 3 J Arrow/54s Feb. 18, 1969 .1. E. N. FIGG METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF INSULATEDWIRE Sheet Filed May 11. 1965 Feb. 18, 1969 J. E. N. FIGG METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF INSULATEDWIRE Sheet Filed May 11, 1965 J. E. N. FIGG I 3,428,504 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING Feb. 18,1969

' A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF INSULATED WIRE Filed May 11. 1965 Sheet wzwmeJam 15A! F766 I J. E. N. FIGG METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLYPRODUCING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF INSULATED WIRE 9 Filed May 11, 1965Sheet, 0f 11 QMY IFlillllI Feb. 18, 1969 J. E. N. FIGG 3,428,504

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OFINSULATED WIRE Filed May 11, 1965 Sheet of 11 F59. /6f 565 w ATTOP/VB SJ. E. N. FIGG 3,428,504 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CQNTINUOUSLY PRODUCINGFeb. 18, 1969 A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF INSULATED WIRE Sheet of 11 FiledMay 11. 1965 MINI. we v l/ax/A/lf/llF/ae Jrranvgy United States PatentClaims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for continuously producing acontinuous length of wire wherein wire is fed from a first supply to acontinuously insulating means through an accumulator until the firstsupply is nearly exhausted. The feed from the first supply is thenstopped and a wire from a second supply is welded to the trailing end ofthe wire .from the first supply; the continuously insulating meansmeanwhile being fed from the accumulator. Wire is then fed from thesecond supply until it is nearly exhausted when a further wire isattached from the first supply and so on. Means are provided foridentifying the joints between consecutive wire lengths after theinsulation is applied whereby the joints may be removed.

The present invention relates to a method of continuously producing acontinuous length of insulated wire and an installation for effectingthe same.

It is known to produce a continuous length of insulated wire by passingsaid wire to a conventional continuous wire insulating and vulcanizingunit, the wire being pulled through the unit by a capstan from a supplyreel or spool which then passes the insulated wire to motor driven takeup reels. However, when said supply reel is exhausted of wire, it isnecessary to join the trailing end of the wire such as by welding andannealing to the leading end of the wire from a fresh supply reel orspool for passage through the unit. Heretofore this has entailedperiodically stopping the continuous wire insulating and vulcanizingunit while the joining is effected, and subsequently restarting thesame. This procedure however has the disadvantage that the unit if it isnot run continuously has to be run-in until it reaches its optimumoperating conditions, and until these conditions are reached theinsulated wire passing to the take up reels is of an inferior quality aand usually has to be scrapped. It will therefore be readily apparentthat on each joining of the wire fed to the unit, the shutting down ofthe unit causes a substantial length of the insulated wire usually ofthe order of 200 feetto be scrapped as well as losing valuableproduction time. The present invention provides a method and apparatusin which the wire is continuously passed to the unit from the supplyreels even during the joining, e.g., welding and annealing of the wiresfrom separate supply reels.

According to the present invention, this is achieved by means of anaccumulating device adapted to take up wire from the supply reels duringthe normal running of the wire to the unit and to give up theaccumulated wire during the time that the trailing end of the wire isformed to the leading end of thewire of a fresh reel, the accu mulatingdevice being in cooperation with a clamping and welding device which isadapted to clamp the trailing end of the wire passing to the unit onsubstantial exhaustion thereof from itssupply reel. During the time thewire is clamped it is butt-welded to the leading end of the wire from afresh supply reel which has previously been positioned in the weldingjaws of the clamping and welding device, and on exhaustion of the wirefrom the ac- "ice cumulating device, release said welded wire so as topass again to the insulating unit.

According to the present invention therefore, there is provided a methodof continuously producing a continuous length of insulated wirecomprising feeding a first wire from a supply to a continuous insulatingmeans at a rate responsive to the demand of said insulating means,increasing the rate of feed of said first wire 'beyond the demand ofsaid insulating means and collecting the resulting excess of said firstwire in a reserve supply, terminating the feed of said first wire fromsaid supply on substantial exhaustion thereof by clamping said firstwire adjacent its trailing end and thereafter supplying said demand fromthe reserve supply, positioning said first wire in end-to-endrelationship with a second wire to be joined to said first wire clampedadjacent its leading end, joining the ends of said wires together, andunclamping said wires on or prior to depletion of said reserve supplywhereby said insulating means are again fed with wire from said supply.

The present invention also provides in combination with a continuousinsulating means arranged to receive a first wire from a first supplyspool and pass the insulated wire to a take-up reel, an apparatus whichincludes clamping means arranged to clamp the trailing end of said firstwire on substantial exhaustion of said first supply spool, means forjoining said trailing end to the leading end of a second wire from asecond supply spool, an accumulating device, disposed between the clampand the continuous insulating means, adapted to take up excess wire whensaid first wire is passing directly from said first supply spool to saidinsulating means and further adapted to release the accumulated wire tosaid insulating means on clamping said first wire, and means forreleasing said clamping means prior to exhaustion of the accumulatedwire in said accumulating device.

The means for joining the wires suitably comprises a welding andannealing unit, and for this purpose it is desirable that the wires havethe ends thereof, which are to be butt-welded together, squared so as toobtain a good welded joint. It is therefore a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention that the claimping means comprises a first clampand a second clamp spaced from and upstream of the first clamp, and acropper disposed between the first and second clamps and adapted to cropthe first wire extending between the clamps subsequent to the clampingof the first wire whereby the cropped end of the first wire may bemanually positioned in end-to-end relationship in the welding andannealing unit with the cropped end of the second Wire from the secondsupply spool. It will be readily apparent that after welding the Wires,the welded joint' will have a flashing thereon and therefore itisdesirable that the second wire pass through a deflashing unitincluding a pair of cutting jaws adapted to close upon the wire onactuation thereof and a pulling unit comprising gripping means which isadapted to pull the welded and annealed wire through the flasher unit toremove the flashing from the joint. Subsequently, the joined wire isreleased from the welding and annealing unit, the deflashing unit andthe pulling unit and me welded wire is replaced manually between thejaws of the second clamp which has been released subsequent to thecropping operation. Operation of the clamps, cropper, deflashing unit,pulling unit and welding and annealing unit is suitably controlled andeffected by a pneumatic system.

With respect to the accumulating device, this suitably comprises a pairof aligned pulley means arranged to move with respect. to each other andbiased to positions remote from each other desirably by a continuoustorque motor whereby on passage of the first wire directly from thefirst spool to the insulating unit, the pulley means move to the remotepositions and as such accumulate wire, and on closing of the clampingmeans, under the pull of the capstan of the continuous insulating andvulcanizing unit, move towards each other so as to give up wire to theinsulating unit.

As is well known, particularly with telegraph wires, it is undesirableto have a joint, e.g., a weld, in the finished cable and therefore it isa prefered embodiment of the present invention, subsequent to theinsulation of the wire, to locate and identify the joint whereby thejoint may be removed from he cable, e.g., by cutting therefrom. To thisend, the installation is provided with a mutilating device which isdisposed downstream of the insulating means and is adapted on actuationthereof to strip insulation from the wire. This mutilating device isassociated with a footage counter which is arranged to actuate themultilating device on the passage of a predetermined length of wiretherethrough, this predetermined length of wire being the length of wirebetween the joint, which for practical purposes is the position of thecropper, and the cutting jaws of the mutilating device. Thus onemergency from the mutilating device, the wire has strips of insulationcut away at the joints and these joints may thus be identified and cutout from the wire either before or after passage on to the appropriatetakeup reels.

The present invention will be further illustrated by way of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGUREl is a schematic side elevation of a continuous insulating andvulcanizing installation according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the clamping cutting and welding unit of theinstallation of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIGURE 2 and isa side elevation of the right hand hydraulic clamp.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIGURE 2 and isa side elevation of the left hand hydraulic clamp.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIGURE 2 and isa side elevation of the cropper.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary right hand side elevation of the welding andannealing unit of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 7 is a plan view taken along the lines DD in FIGURE 6 showing thewelding and annealing jaws.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view taken along the line E--E in FIGURE 6 showingthe operating mechanism for the welding and annealing unit.

FIGURE 9 is a front View of the deflashing unit'as shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 10 is a right hand side elevation of the deflashing unit ofFIGURE 2.

FIGURE 11 is a detailed plan view of the puller unit of FIGURE 2 shownpartially broken away.

FIGURE 12 is a side elevation of the puller unit shown in FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a detail showing the wire clamp of the puller of FIGURE 11.

FIGURES 14 and 15 represent a schematic layout of the pneumatic systemfor operating the apparatus of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 16 is a side elevation of the mutilator of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 17 is a view taken on the line FF of FIG URE 16. I

FIGURE 18 is a front elevation of the accumulator of FIGURE 1 and FIGURE19 is a side elevation of the accumulator of FIGURE 1 taken at 90 tothat of FIGURE 18;

With reference to FIGURE 1 the installation includes a conventionalcontinuous wire insulating and vulcaniz ing unit for insulating a pairof parallel wires 10 .and 10a from each other with a Single coating ofrubber. A typical unit is that disclosed in US. Patent No.

2,648,872. The unit generally comprises a rubber extruder 1 which coatsthe wires passing therethrough with rubber, a steam tube 2 which curesthe rubber coated on the wires 10 and 10a, a water seal 3 which prevntssteam escaping from the end of the steam tube and which cools the curedrubber coated wires 10 and 10a, a capstan 4 which pulls the wires 10 and10a through the unit, and

take-up reels 5 driven by motor 5a upon which the cured rubber coatedwires 10 and 1011 are ultimately wound. The extruder 1 and steam tube 2are connected by a splice box (not shown). The wires 10 and 10a are fedto the extruder 1 of the continuous wire insulating and vulcanizing unitfrom supply spools 12 (only one spool shown) through a clamping,cropping and welding unit 14, an accumulator 16, a footage counter 18and guide rollers 20, 22 and 24. After passage through the water seal 3and before passage over the capstan 4, the coated wire passes through amutilator 26.

With reference to FIGURE 2 the clamping, cropping and welding unit 14comprises a bed 17 which supports at one end thereof a pulley 28 and apair of alignment rollers 30 via which the wire 10 enters the unit 14from the spool 12, and supports at the other end thereof a pair ofalignment rollers 32 and support roller 34 via which the wire 10 leavesthe unit 14 and passes to the accumulator 16. During its passage throughthe unit 14 the wire 10 passes between the jaws 36 of the clamp 38, theblades 40 of the cropper 42 and the jaws 44 of the clamp 46. The bed 17also supports at one end thereof a pulley 28a and a pair of alignmentrollers 30a via which a wire 10a enters the unit 14 from a spool (notshown) similar to the spool 12, and supports at the other end of a pairof alignment rollers 32a, by which with the support roller 34, the wire10*a leaves the unit 14 and also passes to the accumulator 16 andsubsequently to the continuous insulating and vulcanizing unit in asimilar manner to wire 10. During its passage through the unit 14 thewire 10a passes between the jaws 36 of the clamp 38, the cropping blades41 of the cropper 42 and the jaws 44 of the clamp 46. The bed 17 alsocarries a welding and annealing unit 48 shown diagrammatically, adeflashing unit 50 and a puller unit 52.

With reference to FIGURES 2 and 3 the clamp 38 comprises a pair of jaws.36 the lower one of which is fixedly mounted on the bed 17 and the upperone of which is fixedly mounted on a piston rod 54 which passes throughthe lower jaw 36 to an air cylinder 56 bolted by bolts 58 to theunderside of the bed 17. The

piston rod 54 is slidably mounted with respect to the lower jaw 36 andthe bed 17, and upon actuation of the air cylinder through the airsupply inlet 57, reciprocates in a vertical direction, the jaws 36closing on the introduction of air under pressure in the cylinder 56 andopening under the action of the helical spring 69 disposed around therod 54 on exhaustion of the cylinder 56. The upper jaw 36 is guided inits reciprocal vertical motion by vertical guide rods 71 rigidly fixedin the lower jaw 36 and slideable with respect to the upper jaw 36. Thepiston rod 54 also carries a horizontal tie plate 62 which is at to thedirection of the jaws 36, and from the opposite ends of the tie plate 62depend a pair of valve rods 64 and 66 which control air valves 68 and 70respectively fixed to the underside of the bed. Thus it will readily beseen that the motion of the piston rod 54 besides clamping the wires 10and 10a in the jaws 36 also controls the valves 68 and 70.

With reference to FIGURES 2 and 4, the clamp 46, which is essentiallysimilar to the clamp 38 referred to above, comprises a pair of jaws 44the lower one of which is bolted to the bed 17 and the upper of which isfixed on a piston rod 72 which passes through the lower jaw 44 to an aircylinder 74 bolted to the underside of the bed 17 by means of bolts 76which also locate the lower jaw 44. The piston rod 72 is slidablymounted with regard to the lower jaw 44 and the bed l7, and uponactuation of the air cylinder 74 through the supply inlet 78,reciprocates vertically the jaws 44 closing on the introduction of airunder pressure to the cylinder 74 and opening under the action of ahelical spring 80 disposed around the rod 72 on exhaustion of thecylinder 74. The upper jaw 44 is guided in its motion by a pair of guiderods 82 rigidly fixed in the lower jaw 44 and slideable with respect tothe upper jaw 44. The piston rod 72 also carries a horizontal tie plate84 bolted to the upper jaw 44 by bolts 86 and locked by a nut 88 whichalso serves to locate the upper jaw 44 on the rod 72. The tie plate 84(FIGURE 2) has dependent from one end thereof a valve rod 90 (FIGURE 14)which controls an air valve 92 (FIGURE 14) fixed to the underside of thebed 17 (as in FIGURE 3). The other end of the plate 84 is free and hasno rod or valve associated therewith. The air cylinder 56 and valves 68and 70 of the clamp 38, and the air cylinder 74 and valve 92 of clamps46 are actuated and controlled by a pneumatic system describedhereinafter.

The cropper 42 as will be seen from FIGURES 2 and 5 comprises a cuttingblock 96 fixed by bolts 98 to the upper surface of the bed 17 of theunit 14. This cutting block 96 has keyways 100 in which are located thelower blades 40 and 41 held by retaining screws 102. The upper cuttingblades 40 and 41 are held in L-shaped members 104 offset longitudinallyof wires and 10a with respect to the lower cutting blades 40 and 41 toprovide a shearing action. The cutting block 96 carries adjacent eachpair of cutting blades 40 and 41 a guide plate 112 which facilitates thepositioning of the wire 10 or 10a in notches 114 in lower cutting blades40 or 41, respectively. Each member 104 has fixed thereto by screws 106a horizontal bar 108, and an adjustable valve-actuating pin 110 dependsfrom the end of each bar 108.

Each L-shaped member 104 is slideable within a vertical slot 116 in thecutting block 96 and the bed 17 and has connected at the lower endthereof through a linkage 118 the piston rod 120 of an air cylinder 122and 124, respectively. Air cylinder 122 is actuated through air supplyinlet 126 by means of a pneumatic system described hereinafter to causethe upper cropping blade 41 to descend so as to crop the wire 10adisposed in the notch 114 against the action of a helical spring 128disposed around said rod 120 between the air cylinder 122 and aretaining nut 130, on the rod 120. Similarly the air cylinder 124 isactuated by the aforesaid pneumatic system through air supply inlet 132to cause the upper cropping blade 40 to descend against the action ofthe helical spring 134 disposed around rod 120, between air cylinder 124and retaining nut 136 to crop the wire 10. As the wire 10 or 10a iscropped by the action of the blades 40 or 41, the pins 110 contact ballcheck 138 or 140 in air valves 142 or 144, respectively, which arerigidly fixed in the bed 17. The air cylinders 124 and 126 arestabilized by posts 146 (shown partly broken away) to the bed 17.

The welding and annealing unit 48 shown diagram- -rnatically in FIGURE 2is a standard butt-welding machine supplied by Micro-Products Company ofChicago, Illinois, as their Micro-Weld butt-welding machine Model Elmodified as shown in FIGURES 6, 7 and 8. Referring to FIGURES 6, 7 and8, the machine comprises a stationary head 148 fixedly mounted on a base150, and a movable head 152 which is slideable on horizontal bars 154extending from the fixed head 148. The movable head 152 is. biasedtowards the fixed head, 148 by means ofsprings (not shown) the tensionof which is adjusted by a micrometer screw 156 extending through head148. The .head 148 has pivotably mounted thereon by bolt 160 anoperating lever 161 the head 162 of which is in the form of a cam andabuts threadably adjustable screw 164 on the head 152 and determines thegap betweenthe heads 148 and 152. A spring 166 extends between the head162 of the lever 161 and the fixed head 148 and biases the lever 161into the position shown in FIGURE 8 against a threadably adjustablepositive stop 168 located in a recess 170 in the head 162. The base 150also supports a plate 172 pivotably mounted on a post 174 by a bolt 176,and the plate 172 has an adjustable locating pin 178 which, uponmovement of the lever 161 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIGURE8, is contacted by said lever which causes the plate 172 to pivot aboutbolt 176 in the opposite direction whence a downwardly extending flange180 contacts a switch 182 to close the welding circuit of the machine.

The fixed head 148 carries a lug 184, and the moveable head 152, a lug186. The lugs 184 and 186 have fixed thereto the lower welding jaws 188by means of bolts 190, the welding jaws being split at their centre andhaving grooves 192 on the upper surface thereof to accommodate the wire10 or 10a. The upper welding jaws 194 have integral therewith rearwardlyextending arms 195 which are pivotably mounted on bolts 196 extendingthrough the lugs 184 and 186. Each of the bolts 196 also has pivotablymounted thereon an arm 198, which arms 198 support lower annealing jaws200 which are separate from and in alignment with the lower welding jaws188. The upper annealing jaws 202 also have rearwardly extending arms204 integral therewith, said arms 204 being pivotably mounted on thebolts 196. The arms 198 also carry stub pins 206 which extend beneaththe rearwardly extending arms 195 of the jaws 194. The ends 208 of thearms 195 remote from the jaws 194 are flattened and lie directly beneaththe inward facing flanges 210 on ends of the arms 204 remote from theupper annealing jaws 202. Extending between the arms 195 of the upperwelding jaws 194 is a bell-crank lever 212 which has at one end thereofa sleeve 213 which carries rollers 214 of electrically insulatingmaterial on a spindle 216, the rollers 214 being spaced either side ofthe sleeve 213 by washers 218. The lever 212 is pivoted on a lug 220located on the base 150 by a pin 222 and is connected at the other endthereof to the piston rod 224 of an air cylinder 226 by means of alinkage 228.

The gap between the lower welding jaws 188 and thus also the gap betweenthe upper welding jaws 194 is determined by the gap between the heads148 and 152. Thus before the unit is operated by means of the lever 161,a gap is present between the welding jaws which is determined by thesetting of the screw 164. The wires to be welded are threaded betweenthe upper and lower annealing jaws 200 and 202 and the upper and lowerwelding jaws 194 and 188 so that the ends thereof abut in the gapbetween the welding jaws 188. On movement of the lever 161 in thedirection of the arrow the cam head 162 allows the head 152 to movetowards the fixed head 148 a distance determined by the configuration ofthe cam head 162 which causes the ends of wires in the welding jaws 188and 194 to press together under the bias of the spring urging the headstoward each other, and upon the contact of the arm 161 with the locatingpin 178, the plate 172 pivots about the bolt 176 such that the flange180 closes the switch 182 and a current passes through the welding jaws188 and 194 to heat the wires and cause the weld, the gap between thewelding jaws 188 being narrowed, and a flash forming the weld.

As will be explained in more detail hereinafter the closure of thewelding circuit also actuates a timer 340 (FIGURE 15) which after a setperiod of time actuates a solenoid valve 344 (FIGURE 15) allowing airunder pressure from the system described hereinafter to operate liftedclear of contact with the lower welding jaws 188, and is maintainedlower than and clear of the upper welding jaws 194.

The timer 340 now actuates the annealing circuit of the unit 48, so asto pass an annealing current for a set period of time through the upperand lower annealing jaws 202 and 200 and through the welded wire,whereafter the timer 340 opens the circuit. The welded and annealed wireis then pulled through the annealing jaws 200 and 202 and the deflashingunit 50 by the puller unit 52, and the wire is then removed manuallyfrom the annealing jaws 200 and 202, the deflashing unit 50 and thepuller unit 52. The timer 340 then deenergises the solenoid valve 344which exhausts the air cylinder 226 whence the upper welding jaws 194,the upper annealing jaws 202 and the lower welding jaws 200 return totheir initial position under the action of the springs 230, 232, and 234respectively for further operation of the unit 48. The lever arm 161returns to its initial position under the action of the spring 166 againsetting the gap 158 between the heads 148 and 152 and as such the gapbetween the jaws 188.

The deflashing unit 50 as will be seen from FIGURES 9 and 10 comprisesU-shaped block 236 and a movable block 238 disposed between the arms 239and 242 thereof. The U-shaped block 238 is fixedly mounted on the bed 17of the unit 14 such that the arms 239 and 242 thereof are horizontallydisposed, the upper arm 239 forming with the block 238 the jaws of thedefiashing unit 50'. Block 238 is mounted on a rod 240 extending throughthe bed 17 and the lower arm 242, and is slideable with respect thereto.The lower end of the rod 240 is connected by a linkage 244 to the pistonrod 246 of an air cylinder 358 (FIGURE 15) whereby the block 238 may bemoved between a closed position in which the outer edges of the upperrecessed surface of the block 238 abuts the outer edges of the recessedsurface of the upper arm 239, and an open position where the aforesaidsurfaces are spaced apart. The block 238 is biased by a spring (notshown) into the open position. The aforesaid outer edges of the surfacesin the block 238 and the arm 239 have cutting channels 248 extendingtherethrough which accommodate the wire 10 or 10a.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, and 11 to 13 the puller unit 52 comprises atrack 250 along which travels an inverted U-shaped pulling block 252which is connected by a linkage 254 to the piston rod 256 of a doubleacting pneumatic cylinder 258. Disposed at each end of the cylinder 258are air supply inlets 260 and 262 whereby the introduction of air underpressure into one of the inlets and exhaustion of air through the otherinlet causes the piston rod 256 to move in a direction parallel to thetracks 250 and thus the pulling block 252 to move along the tracks 250in the same direction. The pulling block 252 has a pair of jaws 264slidably mounted in recesses 266 which are disposed either side of alongitudinal recess 267 at the end of the block 252 remote from thecylinder 258. The jaws 264 are arranged to slide along inclined surfaces268 of the recesses 266 and have pins 270 dependent therefrom whichextend through elongated slots 272 in the pulling block 252. In theposition shown in FIGURES 11 and 12 the pins 270 abut a horizontal bar274 which extends through a vertical lever 276, the lower end of whichextends through a slot (not shown) in the bed 17 of the unit 14. Thelever 276 is mounted on arm 278 extending from the lower surface of theblock 252 by means of a pivot 280. The end of the track 250 remote fromthe cylinder 258 has a stop screw 282 adjustably mounted on an upwardlyextending lug 284.

The block 252 accommodates in a slot a gripper 286 which is held byscrews 288. With particular reference to FIGURE 13 the gripper 286comprises a housing 290 having a pair of gripping blades 292 slideabletherein, the blades 292 being biased towards each other by springs 294which are located by end plates 296 held by screws 298 on the housing290.

In operation, wire '13 from the reserve reel 11 (FIGURE 1) is taken andpassed between the gripping blades 292 of the gripper 286, between theopen jaws 264 of the pulling block 252, between the open jaws 238 and239 of the deflashing unit 50 and finally the free end is passed betweenthe annealing jaws 200 and 202 and the welding jaws 188 and 194 forsubsequent butt-welding to the cropped end of the wire 10 or 1011 fromthe spools 12 whichever runs out first. A foot pedal (not shown) is thendepressed to actuate via a lever 300 (FIGURE 12) a plunger 301 in acontrol valve 302 which operates the air cylinder 358 (see FIGURE 15) toclose the jaws 238 and 239 of the deflashing unit 50 on the wire 13.

After the welding and annealing of the wire 10 or 10a to the wire 13 inthe welding and annealing unit 48, the puller unit 52, which is in theposition shown in FIGURES 2, 11 and 12, is actuated from the timer 340.

The timer 340 after passage of the annealing current then, as will beexplained in more detail hereinafter, actuates solenoid valves 352 and354 (FIGURE 15) which open air supply inlet 260 to air under pressurefrom the pneumatic system and opens the air supply inlet 262 to exhaustwhereby to move the piston rod 256 from left to right in FIGURES 11 and12. During the travel of the block 252 along the tracks 250* the jaws264 move along the faces 268 of the recesses 266 under the action ofsprings 304 whereby the serrated edges 306 thereof grip the wire 13. Thewire 13 is thus pulled through the deflashing unit 50 and the flashingis removed from the welded joint. On completion of the stroke the lowerend of the lever 276 contacts the plunger 301 in the control valve 302which operates the air cylinder 358 (see FIGURE 15) to open the jaws 238and 239 of the deflashing unit 50. At the same time, the lever 276 ispivoted about the pivot 280 forcing the bar 274 against the pins 270 soas to cause the jaws 264 to slide along the faces 268 of the recesses266, against the bias of the spring 304. The jaws 264 open releasing thewire 13 which is then manually removed from the puller unit 52, thedeflashing unit 50 and the welding and annealing unit 48 and againplaced between the open jaws 36 of the clamp 38 and the jaws 40 or 411of the cropper 42, depending on which of the two wires 10 and '10a thewire 13 has been welded to.

v The timer 340 then actuates the solenoid valves 352 and 354 in areverse manner so to open air supply inlet 262 to air pressure and airsupply inlet 260 to exhaust thereby causing the piston rod 256 to movein the reverse direction. The jaws 264 close under the action of thesprings 304 and on completion of the stroke the bar 274 contacts thestop 282 causing the lever 276 to pivot about the pivot 280 and the bar274 subsequently contacts the pins 270 forcing the jaws 264 along thefaces 268 against the bias of the springs 304 thereby opening the jaws264. The puller unit 52 and the deflashing unit 50 are now ready forfurther operation.

The clamping, cropping and welding unit 14 is operated by a pneumaticsystem shown diagrammatically in FIGURES l4 and 15. Air under pressureis fed via a control unit 308 to a main supply line 310 and feed line312..Feed line 312 contains a two-way valve 314 which is operated when alever 316 is moved momentarily by hand from the neutral position toposition Y or Z which determines whether the air under pressure passesthrough lines 318 and 319 or lines 320 and 321, to the selector valve322 on which are two pilot cylinders (not shown) which position the mainvalve stem (not shown) which in turn directs the flow of air from theline 324 to one of the air cylinders 122 or 124 thereby closing theblades 41 or 40 on the cropper 42. Thus when one of the wires 10 or 10ais essentially exhausted from the spool 12,

the lever 316 is moved from neutral to the position Y or Z to selectwhich of the blades 40 or 41 will close to crop the appropriate wire 10or |10a. Immediately on movement of the lever 316, air under pressurepasses 9 through the line 318 or 320, via directional control valve 326and line 328 to the air cylinder 56 of the clamp 38 thereby closing thejaws 36 clamping the wires 10* and 10a there'between.

On closure of the jaws 36 of the clamp 38, the tie plate 62 is drawndownwards and the valve rod 64 opens the air valve 70 which allows airunder pressure to pass from the main line 310 via feed line 330 and line332 to the inlet 78 of the air cylinder 74 of the clamp 46. The jaws 44of this clamp 46 close and clamp the wires 10 and 10a. Immediately, aswill be' explained hereinafter, wire which has been accummulated by theaccummulator 16 during the free running of the wires 10 and 10a nowsupplies the continuous wire insulating and vulcanizing unit. On closureof the jaws 44 of the clamp 46, the tie plate 84 is drawn down and thevalve rod 90 opens air valve 92 whereby air under pressure may pass fromthe main line 310 through feed line 334, line 336, air valve 68, whichwas opened on closing of the jaws 36 by the tie plate 62 and the valverod 66, to line 324. From line 324 as aforesaid, the air passes throughselector 'valve 322 to the inlets 126 or 132. of air cylinder 122 or 124thus closing the blades 40 or 4-1 to crop the appropriate wire or 10a.On closure of the blades 40 or 41, the horizontal bar 108 descends andthe associated valve actuating pin 110 opens the corresponding air valve142 or 144 to exhaust whereby the air cylinder 56 of clamp 38 is alsoexhausted through line 328 and line 338. The jaws 36 of the clamp 38open under the action of the spring 60 releasing the wires :10 and 10a,closing valves 68 and 70 to the main supply line 310, and opening theair valve 68 to exhaust. Exhaustion of air valve 68 results in theexhaustion of either air cylinder 122 or 124 via line 324, and selectorvalve 322 and cutter blades- 40 or 41 then open under the action ofsprings 12 8 or 134 to release the cut wire 10 or 10a into the hands ofthe operator.

The free end of the cut wire 10 or 10a which is held by clamp 46 is theninserted by hand between the welding jaws r188 and .194 of the weldingand annealing unit 48 into abutment with the end of the wire 13 from thefull spool 11 which has been previously inserted between the oppositewelding jaws 188 and 194 of the unit 48. The lever 161 on the unit 48 isoperated as aforesaid closing the welding circuit starting the timer340' which is a conventional device sold by Industrial TimerCorporation, Route 287, Parsippany, N.J., as a synchronous motor drivencam timer Model RC3.

After a set interval of time during which butt-welding of the wires iscompleted, the cam 342 closes its associated micro-switch (not shown) toenergize solenoid valve 344 which opens the air cylinder 226 to the mainpressure line 310 via line 346. This causes the piston rod 244 to riseand as aforesaid the roller 218 to lift the upper welding jaws 194 andthe annealing jaws 200 and 202 from the lower welding jaws 188. The cam348 now closes the annealing circuit of the unit 48 and after the timerequired for annealing opens the circuit.

Cam 350 deenergises solenoid valves 352 and 354; the valve 352 connectsthe inlet 260 of the cylinder 258 to main or pressure line 310 throughfeed line 356 and closes off the exhaust, and the valve 354 connects theinlet 262 to exhaust. This causes the piston rod 256 to move from leftto right in FIGURES ll, 12 and whereby the jaws 264 of the puller unit52 grip the welded and annealed wire 13 and pull the joint through thedeflashing unit 50 as explained heretofore. On completion of the pullingstroke of the rod 256, the lever 276 contacts the switch 301 actuatingthe valve 302 which exhausts air cylinder 358 via feed line 360 throughwhich it is normally pressurized from the main pressure line 310. Thejaws 238 and 239 open under spring pressure and the wire 13 is removedby the operator from the welding unit 48, deflashing unit 50 and pullerunit 52 and replaced between the 10 open blades 40 or 41 of the cropper42 and the open jaws 36 of the clamp 38.

Cam 342 of the timer 340 deenergises solenoid valve 344 exhaustingcylinder 352 whereby the upper welding jaws 194 and annealing jaws 200and 202 return to their aligned initial position under the action of thereturn springs 230, 232 and 234. Cam 350 of the timer 340 thendeenergises solenoid valves 352 and 354 reversing the air flow throughthe inlets 260 and 262 of cylinder 258 whereby the rod 256 moves in theopposite direction returning the puller jaws 264 to their initialposition.

Finally the accumulator 16, as will be explained hereinafter, onexhaustion of the accumulated wire 10 or 10a therefrom, actuates by wayof a limit switch (not shown) a solenoid valve 364 which exhausts aircylinder 74 of the clamp 46 opening the jaws 44 thereof and completelyreleasing the wires 10 and 10a for normal running and at the same timecloses valve 92 to the main air supply line 310. The clamping, croppingand welding unit 14 is now ready for further use.

The accumulator 16 as will be seen from FIGURES 18 and 19 comprises aframe column 366 having fixed to the lower portion thereof a transverseplate 368 which carries at either end thereof a stationary spindle 370located on plate 368 by a sleeve 372 and screws 373. Each spindle 370has independently mounted thereon pulleys 376 which are spaced apart byspacers 374 and retained on the spindle by a nut 378 and washer 379. Acarriage 380 has a pair of stationary spindles 382 fixedly mountedthereon by a pair of locking nuts 384, each spindle in a similar mannerto the spindles 370 having independently mounted therein pulleys 386spaced apart by spacers 388 and retained by a nut 390 and washer 391.The carriage 380 is mounted so as to traverse the upper portions of thesame face of the column 366 as that upon which the plate 368 is fixedand uses the edges 367 of the column as tracking for the wheels 392. Thecarriage 380 is connected via brackets 394, ring 395, ring 397 andbracket 396, and cable 398 to a counterweight 400 which runs over theopposite surface of the column 366 and also tracks in the edges 401 ofthe column 366 via wheels 402. The cable 398 passes aroundmulti-channeled pulleys 404 and 406 supported on a table 407 on the topof the column 366. The pulley 406 is driven by a motor 408, alsosupported on the table 407, via a sprocket 410 and a drive chain 412.The carriage 380 is arranged to traverse a path between said table 407at its upper point and a springbiased abutment 362 mounted on a bracket414 attached to the column 366 at its lower point. The wire 10 passesaround one set of aligned pulleys 376 and 386 and the other wire 10apasses around the other set of aligned pulleys 376 and 386.

In operation, during the normal running of the wires 10 and 10a throughthe installation to the continuous Wire insulating and vulcanizing unit,the motor 408 drives the pulley 406 to pull the moveable carriage 380 toits upper point thereby accumulating wires 10 and 10a thereon, theamount of wire accumulated depending upon the number of pulleys 376 and386 on the spindles 374 and 382, respectively, and the maximum distancebetween the spindles 374 and 382.

When the jaws 36 of the clamp 38 close on the wires 10 and 10a, the pullof the capstan 4 on the wires 10 and 10a causes the carriage 380 todescend towards the lower pulleys 374 thereby giving up the wireaccumulated thereon during the normal passage of the wires 10 and 10athrough the installation. At its lower limit, the under side of thecarriage 380 contacts a limit switch (not shown) thereby as aforesaidreleasing the jaws 44 of the clamp 46 whereby both wires 10 and 10a withwire 13 buttwelded to either of the wires 10 or 10a are released and theaccumulator 14 again begins to take up more wire. It will be realizedthat during the time the accumulator 14 is accumulating wire from bothspools 12, these spools will be running at a greater than normal speed.Therefore on the accumulator reaching full capacity with respect to thewires and 10a, it is necessary that spools 12 be decelerated to thisnormal running speed. This may be achieved by means of conventional airbrakes operated from a switching arrangement (not shown) actuated by thecarriage 380 on reaching its upper limit of traverse.

As will be apparent, the apparatus of FIGURES 2 to 15 is sufiicient toeflfect the method of the present invention. However, as aforesaid, withsome types of insulated wire, particularly telephone cable, joints,e.g., welds, are not desirable and therefore according to a preferredembodiment of the invention the installation is provided with themutilator 26 which is actuated from the footage counter 18 and whichstrips back the coating from the wire 10 and 10a about the joint wherebyto identify the joint and facilitate removal of the same from either ofthe coated wires 10 or 10a as the case may be.

With reference to FIGURES 16 and 17 the mutilator 26 comprises a mainhousing 414 having a recess 416 therein transverse to the direction ofthe wires 10 and 10a. The recess 416 has bolted therein by bolts 417 ablock 418 which carries a spindle 420 upon which a knurled handwheel 422is mounted. The stem 424 of the wheel 422 has circular blades 428located thereon by a key 426. The block 418 also has a stripper 432bolted to an edge thereof downstream of said blades 428 by bolts 430. Acarriage 434 is also located in the recess 416 and is slideable inrunners 436 located at the edges of the recess 416. This carriage 434 isequipped in a similar manner to the block 418 with a spindle 438, aknurled handwheel 440 having mounted on the stern 442 thereof circularblades 446 by a key 444, and a stripper 448 mounted thereon by bolts450. The carriage 434 is nioveable towards and away from the block 418under the action of an air cylinder 452 connected thereto by a rod 454.The air cylinder 452. is connected to a source of air under pressure(not shown) through line 453 and is controlled by a solenoid valve 456actuated by the footage counter 18. Air cylinder 452 is single acting,i.e. has a compression spring (not shown) located between the lower sideof the piston (not shown) in the rod 454 and the bottom of the cylinder452 to return the piston to its upper position when the solenoid valve456 is deenergised and exhausts the upper portion of cylinder 452 toatmosphere.

On release of the clamp 46, the wire distance between the joint formedin the wire 10 or 10a, which is essentially the position of the cropper42, and the centre line between the blades 428 and 446 is set on thefootage counter 18. On release of the jaws 44 of the clamp 46 thefootage counter 18 is automatically tripped and after passage of thepreset footage of wire 10 or 10a therethrough, actuates the solenoidvalve 456 Which in turn operates the air cylinder 452. The footagecounter 18 resets to zero in preparation for the next welding cycle. Theair cylinder 452 causes the carriage 434 to move towards the block 418whereby the blades 428 and 446 close in on the wires 10 and 10a passingthere-between via guide rolls 458 and 460 until stopped by means of thethreadably adjustable screw .62 extending through the block 418. Theblades 428 and 446 are rotated by their frictional contact wtih theinsulation of the moving wires 10 and 10a and form longitudinal cuts inthe insulation of wires 10 and 10a. This striated portion of theinsulated Wires 10' and 10a then passes between the points 433 and 449of the strippers 432 and 448 respectively which strip the striatedportion of the coating from the wires thereby locating and identifyingthe joint.

pass to take-up reel 5 and when the mutilated portion thereof approachesthe reel 5, the wire may be passed to a fresh take-up reel 5 with themutilated portion of the wires 10 and 10a spanning the reels and beingsubsequently cut out. i

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A method of continuously producing a continuous length of insulatedwire comprising feeding a first wire from a supply to a continuouslyinsulating means at a rate responsive to the demand of said insulatingmeans, collecting the insulated wire in a first package, increasing therate of feed of said first wire beyond the demand of said insulatingmeans and collecting the resulting excess of said first wire in areserve supply, terminating the feed of said first wire from said supplyon substantial exhaustion thereof by clamping said first wire adjacentits trailing end and thereafter supplying said demand from the reservesupply, positioning the end of said wire in end-to-end relationship withthe leading end of a second wire to be joined thereto, joining the endsof said wires together, unclamping said wires prior to depletion of saidreserve supply whereby said insulating means is again fed with wire fromsaid supply, and locating and identifying said joint after theinsulation has been applied but before the joint reaches said firstpackage where-by said joint may be subsequently removed from the wire.

2. A method as in claim 1 in which the joint is located and identifiedby determining the length of wire between the joint at the instant saidwire is unclamped and a point at which the joint is to be identified,simultaneously therewith commencing measurement of the amount of wirepassing said point, and identifying the joint as soon as said determinedlength of wire has been measured.

3. A method as in claim 1 in which the joint is identified by removing aportion of the insulation surrounding said joint.

4. A method as in claim 1 including collecting the insulated wire in asecond package as soon as the joint arrives at said first package.

5. In combination with a continuous insulating means arranged to receivewire from a first supply spool and pass the insulated wire to a take-upreel, an apparatus which includes clamping means arranged to clamp thetrailing end of said wire on substantial exhaustion of said supplyspool, means for joining said trailing end t the leading end of a wirefrom a second supply spool, an accumulating device disposed between theclamp and the continuous insulating means adapted to take up excess wirewhen said first wire is passing from said first supply spool to saidinsulating means and to give up the accumulated wire to said insulatingmeans on clamping said first wire, means for releasing said clampingmeans on or prior to exhaustion of the accumulated wire in saidaccumulating device, a mutilator device disposed downstream of saidinsulating means arranged to strip insulation from said wire onactuation thereof, and a footage counter device arranged to actuate saidmutilator on passage of a predetermined length of wire therethroughwhereby to locate and identify the joint in the wire.

6. In combination with a continuous insulating means arranged to receivewire from a first supply spool and pass the insulated wire to a take-upreel, an apparatus which comprises a first clamp, a second clamp spacedfrom and upstream of said first clamp arranged to clamp the wire onsubstantial exhaustion of the supply spool, 21 cropping device disposedbetween the first and second clamp adapted to crop the wire extendingbetween the clamps subsequent to the clamping thereof, a welding andannealing unit adapted to join the cropped end of said wire with thecropped leading end of a wire from a second supply spool, means forreleasing the second clamp after cropping of said wire, a deflashingunit including a pair of cutting jaws adapted to close on the wire fromthe second spool, a pulling unit including gripping means adapted topull the welded and annealed wire through the defiashing unit, means forreleasing the wire from said welding and annealing unit, deflashing unitand pulling unit whereby the joined wire may be replaced in the secondclamp, an accumulating device disposed between the first clamp and thecontinuous insulating means adapted to take up excess wire when saidwire is passing from the first spool to the insulating means and give upthe accumulated wire to said insulating means on clamping of said wireand means for releasing said first clamp prior to exhaustion of theaccumulated wire in said accumulating device, a mutilator devicedisposed downstream of said insulating means arranged to stripinsulation from said wire on actuation thereof, and a footage counterdevice arranged to actuate said mutilator on passage of a predeterminedlength of wire therethrough whereby to locate and identify the joint inthe wire.

14 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,606,136 8/1952 Garrett et a1156504 2,648,872 8/1953 Stiegler l86 2,768,105 10/1956 Dittmore et al.156-49 2,987,108 6/1961 Kilmartin 156504 3,024,157 3/1962 Beerli 1565043,363,309 1/ 1968 Logan et a1 29-628 FOREIGN PATENTS 188,305 3/ 1956Austria.

EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

T. R. SAVOIE, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 15651, 502; 83369

